


The Soldier and the Assassin

by panther



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-17
Updated: 2012-06-17
Packaged: 2017-11-07 23:47:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/436773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panther/pseuds/panther
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone else saw them as their childhood hero. She didn't. Natasha respected what he was there for and got on with her job and it draws Steve to her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Soldier and the Assassin

Steve was a soldier and Loki’s threat was taking the human race to war. It was the only reason that he returned to the fold. The stares come from every direction and the lack of professionalism chips away at him before he’s even landed on the boat. He _understands_ it but just because he’s super-human doesn’t mean he’s not regular human too, and he doesn’t like the attention. It is not like he served with these men or indeed these women. To them he is the superhero of their childhood come to live and Steve is not sure how he is going to cope with that yet, how he is going to balance it. 

Natasha respects him but that is as far as it goes, and Steve respects her in return for that. Steve doesn’t really understand why her nationality is such an issue to some, as it doesn’t meant that much to her and when Steve went under he would have been glad to have a Russian at his back. Agent Romanov is the height of professionalism and from what Steve has heard of Natasha’s past she is the last person to expect it from. The trained assassin and the soldier with so much blood on his hands that he can’t sleep at night. It is just like he told Nick though, it is not like he needs it. Natasha respects his authority and it feels differently with her, genuine, and not like he is doing it because that was how things were before. They work well together, getting things done and following instructions with too many questions. 

When they go into the battle in Manhattan, he worries about her. Natasha isn’t a super solider, hell she isn’t even a soldier at all, even if she has the heart of one when she needs to. Her thin frame looks weak and fragile, the guns she wields tiny in comparison to the super weapons the rest of the team have and the alien technology being used against them. Steve worries about her while Captain America focuses on his job and later he scolds himself for that because Natasha wouldn’t approve of that let alone anyone else. He had divided his attentions and put everyone in danger. 

They all pull through the battle but it is a close thing and there are several occasions where Steve wonders if they will and his mind keeps flashing to Natasha and how painfully mortal she is. Then he remembers Clint, in the same situation, and feels a guilt that doesn’t fade quite enough when he takes out another beast advancing on an innocent child. More missions come, and Steve stills talks to Natasha a little differently from the rest, not quite barking orders the way he does with the others. Telling himself that it only because he doesn’t _need_ to bark with Natasha to get her to do something he just about manages to delude himself into believing there is not a problem. 

He is a man out of time. Being a soldier is what he knows but now, he can’t even do that properly without becoming compromised and _that_ is not something that he can keep denying.


End file.
